Nightmare: The True Meaning of Christmas
by K9oftheTwoStrings
Summary: Sally presents Jack with a mysterious present just a few days before Christmas. What is it and what does it have to do with Christmas? Religious oneshot.


AUTHOR's NOTE: this is a short "Nightmare before Christmas" oneshot I wrote last Christmas, but I never posted. And I know, Jack seems a bit too eager since he has only heard half to story, erm... Well... More like 1/95th of the story... But you know... Ah well, I hope you enjoy! This'll be my other thing for my annual Christmas in July thing.

"Jack?" Sally said, turning towards the Christmas tree in the corner of the room, "I think it's about time for me to give your Christmas present."

"A Christmas present?" Jack asked, scratching the top of his skull, "Isn't it a  
little early for that? We only have a few more days until Christmas."

"No, Jack." Sally insisted, "I feel that I need to give you this present now. It simply can't wait till Christmas to be opened. It's too important keep until the holiday."

Sally walked over to the three, reached behind it and pulled out a fairly large box wrapped in red paper and topped with a gold bow. She took one final look at the gift, smiled and handed it to her husband. The box was a bit heavy and it made a rattling and clinking noise whenever he shook it up and down.

"I wonder what it could be?" Jack asked.

He unwrapped the gift to reveal another box, this time made of cardboard with a slightly opened top. He opened the flaps of the box and began to look at some of its contents. First, he pulled out a little house- it wasn't the fanciest place in the world- it had a thatched roof and the exterior made of wooden beams and planks. It had no doors or windows; in fact, it had no front exterior at all. The floor was covered in a material that was meant to resemble straw. Puzzled, yet intrigued, Jack out more pieces of his gift. Besides the little, strange structure, inside the box, there were also many different beasts, however not like any animals he had seen before. These creatures were too large to be rats, but too small to be alligators. They had feet, so they couldn't be snakes or worms and they had four legs rather than eight so they obviously weren't spiders. The animals appeared to be furless, so they weren't cats and they could not be bats either since none of the animals bore wings. They all were cloven-footed, so finally, Jack came to the conclusion that these mysterious beasts were reindeer, since the strange little display had something to do with the Christmas holiday (he had assumed).

"Reindeer?" Jack asked, curiously yet confidently.

"Try again." Sally said, smiling.

Still intrigued by Sally's mysterious gift, he placed the animal figurines down and continued to pull pieces out of the box. There was a young man that was holding an oddly-shaped scythe, three more men carrying parti-colored ash urns, a human-sized bat with white, furry wings and a gold crown atop of its head in place of ears and finally, another man, a young woman clocked in blue and then a child wrapped in a white blanket. Unsure of what this collection of strange mis-matched objects meant, the Pumpkin King presented his Queen with his most famous query: "What's this?"

"It's called a Nativity Scene." Sally said, smiling, "I purchased it for you on our honeymoon when we were visiting Christmas Town."

"Well, it certainly is a cute and most definitely interesting... gift... You said you purchased this in Christmas Town, correct?"

"Yes. I did."

"But... This is unlike anything I've seen in Christmas Town. These beasts are not reindeer and there is no sign of Sandy Claws or presents anywhere! How on earth does this have to do with Christmas?!"

Sally turned to Jack. There was this look on her face and a little twinkle in her eye that told him that she was preparing for Jack to ask her this question and that she had an answer and a good one at that.

"It might not be completely clear, but there IS a connection, Jack." Sally said, "I just haven't explained it to you yet. Oh! That reminds me! I think it's time for you to unwrap another one of your gifts."

She handed him another gift wrapped in the same red paper. He opened it. It was a book with a book with a navy blue jacket over it. It had no words on the cover, except for a golden-colored lowercase "T". Jack quite liked reading, so even if this particular book had no cover, he had a feeling that he was going to like it anyways. Sally motioned for him to take a seat next to her on the sofa and told him to give her the book. This book was unlike any Jack had ever read before. When Sally opened it up, it had revealed that the book was divided into two separate books, or testaments rather and each of the chapters of each book had a name rather than a number. She continued to flip through the pages until she came to a story called "Luke". Sally finally pointed to one paragraphs and smiled.

"There." Sally said. "This whole paragraph tells you everything you need to know about the connection between Christmas and the present I gave you."

"Right here?" Jack asked, pointing to the paragraph that Sally had pointed at.

"Yes."

Jack began reading to read aloud. He began to read the story about a young woman named Mary who had been visited by a creature called an "Angel" (or the "human-sized bat" originally according to him) and was bound to be married to a man named Joseph. She was also called to have a baby whom she was to name "Jesus". He read about the travels they had and about a little city called "Bethlehem" where Mary had rested and then gave birth to the child in a stable (since there was "no room for her and her husband in the inn.") He read about people called shepherds who were also greeted by angels who were called to visit the child and his parents and finally, in a different chapter, about three kings who had followed a bright star and came to give the baby gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh- all gifts fit for a king much like them. He finished the story and then closed the book. He began to think about the story he had read and before he could ask for her to explain the connection, he immediately got it.

"Was this how Christmas came to be?"

Sally nodded and replied: "This was the story of the first ever Christmas."

Jack began to smile. It all made sense now; that present he had received told him how the holiday came to be- except one question remained: "who was the child sleeping in the manger and why was he so important?"

"Jack..." Sally said, "this child was no ordinary child- this was the Son of God; he would eventually save all of mankind from their sins and give all who believes in him eternal life."

"And..." Jack said, smiling, "That is probably the greatest gift anyone could ever ask for. Thank you for telling me about this, Sally- now I know the origins of my favorite holiday... Well.. Besides Halloween, of course..."

Sally giggled a little and Jack continued.

"...And that it was this child that was not only the first, but the greatest Christmas present of all!"

"But the question remains..." Sally said, moving closer to her husband, "will you except this gift? Do you believe?"

Jack smiled and thought about it in his heart. And even though the old thing handy made a best in years, it was still able to make this decision. It was clear as crystal now- he believe that the little child in the story was truly the Son of God.

"Yes."

"Then... Jackson Skellington, you and I are Halloween Town's first ever Christians."

"That's what they are called? The people that believe in the child?"

Sally nodded and continued.

Jack, I'm so glad you accepted Jesus into your life- not everybody does and unfortunately, I've been criticized lately about it... But, that won't stop me from believing."

"Hey, just because you cannot see it, doesn't mean you can't believe it."

Sally laughed a little and then finally, remembered something.

"Oh! That reminds me! I had also purchased a little something for myself as well!"

She dug into the pocket of her tattered, stitched-up dress and pulled out a little black box that contained a silver necklace bearing the same symbol as the one on the book.

Jack took a look at the necklace and smiled.

"It's beautiful, Sally!" Jack exclaimed, "is this the symbol of our faith?"

"It is! It's called a 'cross'. Something else happens that is very important in the life of Jesus Christ however that is an entirely different story for an entirely different holiday."

The End


End file.
